Leadership Summary
Chapter 1 – Introduction
There are many ways to define leadership. Scholars and practioners have attempted to define
leadership for more than a century without universal consensus.
“Leadership scholars agree on one thing: they can’t come up with a common definition for
leadership.”
Since 1930s: Trait approach of leadership.
Since 1940s: Skills & Behaviors approach of leadership
Since 1960s: Situational or Contingency approach of leadership
Since 1970s: The ‘new’ leadership? Integrative approach of leadership
Ways of conceptualizing Leadership
- the focus of group processes; the leader is at the center of group change and activity and
embodies the will of the group.
- personality perspective; suggesting that leadership is a combination of special traits or
characteristics that some individuals possess.
- Other approaches are an act or a behavior; the things leaders do to bring about change in a
group.
- Power relationship; leaders have power that they wield to effect change in others
- Transformational process: moves followers to accomplish more than is usually expected of
them
- Skills perspective: the capabilities (KSAs) that make effective leadership possible.
Definition and components
There are 4 components that can be identified as central to leadership:
(1) Leadership is a process, (2) Leadership involves influence, (3) Leadership occurs in groups, (4)
Leadership involves common goals.
Based on this, the following definition of leadership is used (the common denominator:
- Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a
common goal
Process: it is not a trait/characteristic that resides in the leader, but rather a transactional
event that occurs between the leaders and followers. A leader affects and is affected by
followers
Influence: Concerned with how the leader affects followers and the communication
between them. Without influence, leadership does not exist
Groups: The context in which leadership takes place. It involves influencing a group of
individuals who have a common purpose. Community, small task group, large group.
Common goals: Leaders direct toward individuals who are trying to achieve something
together. Leaders and followers have a mutual prupose.
Major approaches of leadership
integrated:
,Leadership described
In this section, we will address (1) how leadership as trait differs from leadership as a process; (2)
how appointed leadership differs from emergent leadership; (3) how the concepts of power, (4)
coercion and (4) management differ from leadership.
1. Trait versus process leadership
The traits perspective
- Suggests that certain individuals have special innate or inborn characteristics/qualities that
make them leaders, and that these qualities differentiate them from nonleaders.
- Personal qualities: unique physical factors (height), personality features (extraversion), and
other characteristics
- The traits viewpoint conceptualized leadership as a property possessed in varying degrees by
different people. It resided in select people and restricts leadership to those who are
believed to have special, inborn, talents.
The process perspective
- Suggests that leadership is a phenomenon that resides in the context of the interactions
between leaders and followers and makes leadership available to everyone.
- Leadership can be observed in leader behavior, and can be learning.
2. Assigned versus Emergent leadership
Some people are leaders because of their formal position (assigned), whereas others are leaders
because of the way other group member respond to them (emergent).
- Assigned leadership: based on occupying a position, such as team leaders, department
heads, directors.
- Emergent leadership: When others perceive and individual as the most influential member of
a group/organization, regardless of the individual’s title. So, leadership emerges over a
period through communication.
Some of the positive communication behaviors for successful leader emergence include:
being verbally involved, being informed, seeking other’s opinions, initiating new ideas.
Also personality plays a role in leadership emergence: dominant, intelligent, confident
individuals were more likely to be identified as leaders by other members.
, Also gender-biased perception plays a role in leadership emergence; Although women
were equally influential leaders in their group, they were rated lower than comparable
men were on leadership.
3. Leadership and Power
Power is the capacity or potential to influence. People have power when they have the ability to
affect others’ beliefs, attitudes, and courses of action. Power is a concept that people often associate
with leadership; it is common for people to view leaders as individuals who wield power over others.
- French and Raven (1959) conceptualized power from the framework of a dyadic relationship
that included both the person influencing and the person being influenced. They identified
six common and important bases of power: referent, expert, legitimate, reward, coercive,
and information power.
Referent power Based on followers’ identification and liking for
the leader. A teacher who is adored by students
Expert power Based on follower’s perception of the leader’s
competence. tour guide knows about a country
Legitimate power Having status or formal job authority.
Reward power Having capacity to provide rewards to others. A
supervisor who compliments employees
Coercive power Having capacity to penalize or punish others. A
coach who sits players on the bench
Information power Possessing knowledge that other want or need.
A boss who has info about new criteria
In organizations are two major kinds of power: position power and personal power.
- Position power: power a person derives from a particular office or rank. They have higher
status than followers.
It includes legitimate, rewards, coercive, and information power
- Personal power: the influence capacity a leader derives from being seen by followers as
likable and knowledgeable.
It includes referent and expert power.
4. Leadership and Coercion
Coercion involves the use of force to effect change.
- To coerce means to influence others to do something against their will and may include
manipulating penalties and reward in their work environment.
- Involves the use of threats, punishments, and negative reward schedules; often sees as the
dark side of leadership.
- Coercive people are not used as models of ideal leadership; leadership is reserved for those
who influence a group of individuals toward a common goal. Leaders who use coercion are
interested in their own goals and seldom interested in the needs of flowers.
5. Leadership and Management
Leadership is a process that is imilar to management in many ways
- Leadership involves influence, as does management
- Leadership entails working with people, as does management
- Leadership is concerned with effective goal accomplishment, as does management
But leadership is also different from management.
, - Management was created as a way to reduce chaos in organization, to make them run more
effectively and efficiently.
Functions of management: planning & budgeting, organization& Staffing, and controlling
& Problem solving
Functions of leadership: Establishing direction, aligning people, and Motivating &
Inspiring.
The primary function of management is to provide order and consistency to organization, whereas
the primary function of leadership is to produce change and movement. Management is about
seeking order and stability, leadership is about seeking adaptive and constructive change.
- Both management and leadership are essential for organization
If an organization has strong management without leadership, the outcome can be
stifling and bureaucratic.
If an organization has strong leadership without management, the outcome can be
meaningless or misdirectec.
Leadership and management are distinct constructs:
- As Bennis and Nanus (2007) mentioned: to manage means to accomplish activities and
master routines, whereas to lead means to influence others and create visions for change.
- “Managers are people who do things rights and leaders are people who do the right thing’’
Although the clear differences, management and leadership also overlap:
- When managers influencing a group to meet its goals, they are involved in leadership
- When leaders are involved in planning, organizing, etc, they are involved in management.
Chapter 2 – Trait Approach
Systematic research about trait approach started in 1930’s/1940’s .
Enormous number of studies investigating the effects of:
- Personality characteristics, needs and motives, and values
- Looked at effect on leader emergence, advancement, derailment, and overall effectiveness
Studies of Leadership Traits and Characteristics.
Chapter 1 – Introduction
There are many ways to define leadership. Scholars and practioners have attempted to define
leadership for more than a century without universal consensus.
“Leadership scholars agree on one thing: they can’t come up with a common definition for
leadership.”
Since 1930s: Trait approach of leadership.
Since 1940s: Skills & Behaviors approach of leadership
Since 1960s: Situational or Contingency approach of leadership
Since 1970s: The ‘new’ leadership? Integrative approach of leadership
Ways of conceptualizing Leadership
- the focus of group processes; the leader is at the center of group change and activity and
embodies the will of the group.
- personality perspective; suggesting that leadership is a combination of special traits or
characteristics that some individuals possess.
- Other approaches are an act or a behavior; the things leaders do to bring about change in a
group.
- Power relationship; leaders have power that they wield to effect change in others
- Transformational process: moves followers to accomplish more than is usually expected of
them
- Skills perspective: the capabilities (KSAs) that make effective leadership possible.
Definition and components
There are 4 components that can be identified as central to leadership:
(1) Leadership is a process, (2) Leadership involves influence, (3) Leadership occurs in groups, (4)
Leadership involves common goals.
Based on this, the following definition of leadership is used (the common denominator:
- Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a
common goal
Process: it is not a trait/characteristic that resides in the leader, but rather a transactional
event that occurs between the leaders and followers. A leader affects and is affected by
followers
Influence: Concerned with how the leader affects followers and the communication
between them. Without influence, leadership does not exist
Groups: The context in which leadership takes place. It involves influencing a group of
individuals who have a common purpose. Community, small task group, large group.
Common goals: Leaders direct toward individuals who are trying to achieve something
together. Leaders and followers have a mutual prupose.
Major approaches of leadership
integrated:
,Leadership described
In this section, we will address (1) how leadership as trait differs from leadership as a process; (2)
how appointed leadership differs from emergent leadership; (3) how the concepts of power, (4)
coercion and (4) management differ from leadership.
1. Trait versus process leadership
The traits perspective
- Suggests that certain individuals have special innate or inborn characteristics/qualities that
make them leaders, and that these qualities differentiate them from nonleaders.
- Personal qualities: unique physical factors (height), personality features (extraversion), and
other characteristics
- The traits viewpoint conceptualized leadership as a property possessed in varying degrees by
different people. It resided in select people and restricts leadership to those who are
believed to have special, inborn, talents.
The process perspective
- Suggests that leadership is a phenomenon that resides in the context of the interactions
between leaders and followers and makes leadership available to everyone.
- Leadership can be observed in leader behavior, and can be learning.
2. Assigned versus Emergent leadership
Some people are leaders because of their formal position (assigned), whereas others are leaders
because of the way other group member respond to them (emergent).
- Assigned leadership: based on occupying a position, such as team leaders, department
heads, directors.
- Emergent leadership: When others perceive and individual as the most influential member of
a group/organization, regardless of the individual’s title. So, leadership emerges over a
period through communication.
Some of the positive communication behaviors for successful leader emergence include:
being verbally involved, being informed, seeking other’s opinions, initiating new ideas.
Also personality plays a role in leadership emergence: dominant, intelligent, confident
individuals were more likely to be identified as leaders by other members.
, Also gender-biased perception plays a role in leadership emergence; Although women
were equally influential leaders in their group, they were rated lower than comparable
men were on leadership.
3. Leadership and Power
Power is the capacity or potential to influence. People have power when they have the ability to
affect others’ beliefs, attitudes, and courses of action. Power is a concept that people often associate
with leadership; it is common for people to view leaders as individuals who wield power over others.
- French and Raven (1959) conceptualized power from the framework of a dyadic relationship
that included both the person influencing and the person being influenced. They identified
six common and important bases of power: referent, expert, legitimate, reward, coercive,
and information power.
Referent power Based on followers’ identification and liking for
the leader. A teacher who is adored by students
Expert power Based on follower’s perception of the leader’s
competence. tour guide knows about a country
Legitimate power Having status or formal job authority.
Reward power Having capacity to provide rewards to others. A
supervisor who compliments employees
Coercive power Having capacity to penalize or punish others. A
coach who sits players on the bench
Information power Possessing knowledge that other want or need.
A boss who has info about new criteria
In organizations are two major kinds of power: position power and personal power.
- Position power: power a person derives from a particular office or rank. They have higher
status than followers.
It includes legitimate, rewards, coercive, and information power
- Personal power: the influence capacity a leader derives from being seen by followers as
likable and knowledgeable.
It includes referent and expert power.
4. Leadership and Coercion
Coercion involves the use of force to effect change.
- To coerce means to influence others to do something against their will and may include
manipulating penalties and reward in their work environment.
- Involves the use of threats, punishments, and negative reward schedules; often sees as the
dark side of leadership.
- Coercive people are not used as models of ideal leadership; leadership is reserved for those
who influence a group of individuals toward a common goal. Leaders who use coercion are
interested in their own goals and seldom interested in the needs of flowers.
5. Leadership and Management
Leadership is a process that is imilar to management in many ways
- Leadership involves influence, as does management
- Leadership entails working with people, as does management
- Leadership is concerned with effective goal accomplishment, as does management
But leadership is also different from management.
, - Management was created as a way to reduce chaos in organization, to make them run more
effectively and efficiently.
Functions of management: planning & budgeting, organization& Staffing, and controlling
& Problem solving
Functions of leadership: Establishing direction, aligning people, and Motivating &
Inspiring.
The primary function of management is to provide order and consistency to organization, whereas
the primary function of leadership is to produce change and movement. Management is about
seeking order and stability, leadership is about seeking adaptive and constructive change.
- Both management and leadership are essential for organization
If an organization has strong management without leadership, the outcome can be
stifling and bureaucratic.
If an organization has strong leadership without management, the outcome can be
meaningless or misdirectec.
Leadership and management are distinct constructs:
- As Bennis and Nanus (2007) mentioned: to manage means to accomplish activities and
master routines, whereas to lead means to influence others and create visions for change.
- “Managers are people who do things rights and leaders are people who do the right thing’’
Although the clear differences, management and leadership also overlap:
- When managers influencing a group to meet its goals, they are involved in leadership
- When leaders are involved in planning, organizing, etc, they are involved in management.
Chapter 2 – Trait Approach
Systematic research about trait approach started in 1930’s/1940’s .
Enormous number of studies investigating the effects of:
- Personality characteristics, needs and motives, and values
- Looked at effect on leader emergence, advancement, derailment, and overall effectiveness
Studies of Leadership Traits and Characteristics.
